I Taught About the Kingdom

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

September 3, 2019

I Taught About the Kingdom

Page 94-97

Matthew 5:13 - 6:4; Luke 6:27-36

In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus followed his Beatitudes with six examples of practical, ethical issues. In each example Jesus is saying, “Here is what the law says; now I am going to the very heart of the law to show how children of God can live out its deepest meaning.” Jesus reveals how I can make living a life of the Beatitudes a realistic expectation for my life. When Jesus says that my righteousness must exceed that of the religious leaders, he is not saying that I have to do more than they do. He is saying I am called to a different kind of righteousness. This is the righteousness that comes through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. In this righteousness, the life of Jesus becomes visible in my life as I live in a way that expresses the merciful, forgiving, reconciling will of God. As I live in this way, I am fulfilling the deepest intent of God’s law. How is this possible? Wouldn’t you have to be perfect to live this way? Yes.

But remember, God’s definition of perfect is different than ours. God’s perfection is not getting a grade of A+ on every test. God’s perfection is the wholeness of life that comes with new life in Christ. To live with Godly perfection is to respond to other people – even those I think of as my enemies – with the compassion and desire for good that expresses the way God has responded to me. It is the way God responds to the whole world. Godly perfection is within me when I see other people the same way God sees me, and them.

Jesus’ instructions about living in a new righteousness are not complex; they are quite simple, direct and easy to comprehend and remember. Even so, there seems to be a scarcity of disciples of Jesus who take seriously these instructions. However, the enormity of God’s love for us is matched by His patience. God has very, very high expectations for his children, and he will not rest until his children are transformed to be like Jesus.

My Takeaway: Every Sunday, as the followers of Jesus gather in their sanctuaries for worship, the Holy Spirit moves through the pews and can be heard asking, “Who will be a follower of Jesus? Who among you will live for Christ in this world?”

Who among us will respond, “Here I am. I will be his disciple.”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.